The following is a quick review of Everybody Wants Some!!! – Directed by Richard Linklater.
Back in 2014, director Richard Linklater won numerous awards for Boyhood. Now, I know that not everyone enjoys that film for what it is, but I happen to think of it as a true masterpiece. One of the more important films in the 2010s so far. Naturally, I was interested in seeing what his next move as a filmmaker would be, and I’ve got to say that I’m not impressed with Everybody Wants Some!!!
Everybody Want Some!!! follows Jake Bradford (played by Blake Jenner), a young baseball pitcher, as he tries to bond with his teammates while they are all trying to ‘pick up’ girls. Jake, however, meets Beverly (played by Zoey Deutch), a performing arts major, and they soon start falling for each other.
Everybody Wants Some!!! has been called the spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused, one of Linklater’s other well-known films. Now, at the time of writing, I’ve yet to see Dazed and Confused, but if it isn’t better than this one, then I’m not that interested.
To me, this is just a huge step back for Linklater as a filmmaker. He has followed up a masterpiece with an unmemorable film about young people enjoying themselves. I think the characters are really unlikable, they are crude, at times, and I feel like they made the film a chore to watch at times.
I also think the film suffers from being overlong. I dislike how women are treated in the film as well as how female characters are used in the film. Perhaps that is a reflection of the time or of the parties college baseball teams had back then, but I think the film could’ve paid more attention to women.
It’s not all bad, though. There are some really funny scenes and I did enjoy the soundtrack to the film quite a bit. But I don’t expect to watch this film again. Everybody Wants Some!!! is, to me, not a bad movie, but one of the most disappointing films of the year.
6 out of 10
– Jeffrey Rex
I'm Jeffrey Rex 